Geer's Pizza

UI/UX Project

Responsive Design
Research
Product Structure
Next Steps

restaurant app

UX/UI Design Project

Overview

Geer's Pizza is a restaurant app that lets users Increase customer engagement and streamline the ordering process by developing a user-friendly mobile app that offers seamless navigation, personalized recommendations, and a convenient online ordering system, ultimately enhancing the overall dining experience and fostering customer loyalty.

Problem

We’re creating a Geer’s Pizza Family Restaurant app to attract and retain customers in our online system. Design a mobile application that enhances the restaurant dining experience through seamless reservation management and authentic customer reviews. The app should cater to both users seeking to make reservations and those looking to share their dining experiences. Ensure the design promotes user-friendly navigation, encourages engagement, and provides valuable insights for both restaurant-goers and restaurant owners.

Solution

While I was researching statistics on restaurants, I found out that a large portion of Canadians prefer to use a mobile app for their restaurant experiences which leads to my initial question:

Users

My Role

My Approach

The Design Thinking Process

Competetive Analysis

Reflecting on my personal dining experiences, I've often embarked on a quest for the perfect culinary encounter, only to encounter difficulties in discovering the right restaurant to satisfy my cravings. Despite my enthusiasm, I recognize the importance of making an informed choice to ensure a gratifying dining experience. With this in mind, I immersed myself in the realm of restaurant exploration and explored several dining platforms. In my quest, I encountered four prominent establishments: Boston Pizza, Moxie's Grill & Bar, Tim Hortons, and East Side Mario's. Much like my search for the ultimate dining destination, these restaurants cater to an array of culinary desires, each offering distinct strengths to guide discerning diners in their pursuit of a memorable gastronomic journey.

A competitive list of multiple restaurants

After trying all of their features, I summarized some pain points while using them, which becomes the opportunity areas for me to design the new app.

Pain Points:

Users might find it challenging to navigate through the apps due to confusing hierarchy
Limited accessibility or availability
Users may want to have better ingredients in their meals

Interview

To better understand our potential users, I interviewed with 5 people from all walks of life, aging 18+. The interview is semi-structured and all the questions are open-ended, just to make sure people could think out loud and share more details on their eating habits, where they order from, and how they wish they could reduce the time it takes to order a meal or reserve a table. During the interviews, I found out that most people, especially busy families with children, tend to cook by their own and have a better sense of how to deal with each food item they bought, while young students and professionals are more likely to dine outside, order delivery food, and forget what they store in the fridge. Therefore, our target users would be families and young professionals, especially those who eat out often.

Persona Development

Based on the research insights, I developed a primary persona that demonstrate our target users, especially their goals and pain points.

Reframe Design Question

The above findings helped me further narrow down the problem statement, so I came up with our final design question:

Green text that says "How can we optimize the dining experience for families and young professionals?"

Product Structure

In response to the insights gathered, I structured the "Geer's Pizza" mobile app. The app's foundation revolves around essential elements, including the home screen as a central starting point, guiding users to the "Location" section, which encompasses nearby restaurants, popular cuisines, and trending dishes. The "Menu" section categorizes items, highlighting daily specials and dietary preferences. The "Order" feature facilitates smooth browsing, customization, and cart management. Users can effortlessly make "Reservations," specifying date, time, and party size for a seamless experience. The "Profile" segment stores user details, order history, and favorites, ensuring personalization. The app design is curated to create a streamlined and enjoyable dining journey, with a focus on "Geer's Pizza" offerings.

Design Solutions

Hi-fidelity Mockups

A phone displaying the homepage of Geer's Pizza

A phone displaying Geer's Pizza payment page

Visual Design

A group of colors and numbers of Geer's Pizza's branding

What I learned

Engaging in this project for six weeks, from inception to completion, with a focus on human-centered design, has deepened my appreciation for the process. Throughout, I've gained insights into the importance of continual valuable feedback in the design phase and the essential role of testing in the product's evolution.